Too Late (A Pre-Charmed Story)
by Queen Piper
Summary: Written by my friend, Kat. A Pre-Charmed story involving Phoebe, Piper and Prue as (high school/college)teens left home alone while Grams is on a vacation.
1. Chapter 1

Too Late  
  
(A Pre-Charmed Story)  
  
"Phoebe!" Prue shouted up the stairs of the Manor. She'd had it with her baby sister, their Grams had gone away on a trip leaving her in charge and she wasn't going to be late for class again. "Pheebs, come on let's go! I'm not going to be late again because of you and your lazy…"  
  
"Prue!" Piper was the middle sister; it was always left to her to be the protector. True, Phoebe had been late every day this week, but she also had tests that she had been out studying for. The more Piper ran that scenario over in her head the less it seemed plausible. It wasn't that Phoebe was dumb… far from it, she was one of the most intelligent people Piper knew; she just didn't apply herself. Shaking her head Piper knew she was turning into Grams. The woman who had taken care of them since their mother had died all those years ago. She was interrupted in her thoughts by more yelling…  
  
"Prue, get out of my room! I'm getting dressed okay!"  
  
"Oh yea like it's something I've never seen before. Phoebe I'm your sister. I diapered you for crying out loud!"  
  
"Yea well now I'm a big girl Prue and I don't need you and your stupid barging in on me! I can take care of myself!" Phoebe slammed the door and sat on the bed. Putting her head in her hands she let a tear slip out before straightening up her room.  
  
"Prue, I really think you should go a little easier on Phoebe, it's been hard for her too." Piper said in a calm voice.  
  
Checking her watch Prue again banged on Phoebes door. They were going to be late and it was all Phoebes fault, she was sure of it. Prue had been through this with her sisters before, they had a routine… they could do it, with or without Grams' help. Prue was in college and she was in no mood to be late. It was a big deal in college, it was a big deal in high school… why didn't Phoebe just get it together?  
  
"PHEEBS! I'M LEAVING NOW WITH OR WITHOUT YOU!" Prue called as she ran down the stairs. She informed Piper that they would let Phoebe find her own way to school, as she was so mature now. Piper didn't even bother trying to argue with her older sister and just prayed that Phoebe would make it down the stairs in time to catch a ride with them. Prue wasn't uncaring as most people may think; she was just in a hurry, always.  
  
As the car pulled out of the driveway Phoebe made a mad dash for the door of the manor. She couldn't believe her sisters would actually make good on the promise to leave her there. Running out the door she flailed her arms about, shouting after the car. Piper was busy rummaging through her backpack for a piece of chewing gum and didn't see her sister running after the car. Phoebe thought it was hopeless until she saw Prue glance out the side window at her, smiling Phoebe started walking towards the car as it pulled up to the curb. Then, just before she reached the car, it pulled away and she saw the bus stop she'd been led to by her sister. Throwing her bag to the ground Phoebe sat pouting awaiting the arrival of the bus.  
  
That evening not a word was exchanged between Phoebe and Prue. Piper suspected it was due to their leaving Phoebe to take the bus, but didn't want to get in the middle of it.  
  
"Dinner!" Piper called out enthusiastically, hoping to break some of the tension in the house. Prue came to the table directly, while Phoebe was still nowhere to be found. "Pheebs? It's dinner, I made Chinese!"  
  
"Phoebe come on get down here now and eat your dinner!" Prue shouted. She was in no mood to again be held back by her sister. As if to show this Prue began serving herself, looking up she saw the concerned look on Pipers face and stopped. "Phoebe!"  
  
"I'm not hungry!" Phoebe called down from upstairs. She just wanted to be alone. She'd been in a big fight with her friend Lydia and didn't feel like continuing the big fight she'd had with her sister.  
  
**FLASHBACK EARLIER THAT DAY**  
  
"Hey Pheebs, why were you late to homeroom?" Lydia called as she caught up with the red-faced girl. Lydia and Phoebe looked like exact opposites. Lydia had long black hair that shone in the sun and pale porcelain skin with clear blue-gray eyes. She was very tall and slightly round and always wore flowers in her hair. Phoebe was smaller and darker colored with brown hair cut medium length. Her brown eyes often let people in to the many mysteries that were Phoebe.  
  
"I'm broke." Phoebe stated simply.  
  
"So… you get a ride with your sister… don't you?" Lydia said inquisitively.  
  
"Not today. She ditched me! She even looked out the window and saw me, and she even stopped the car but then she pulled away before I could get in. I don't think Piper saw me though." Phoebe complained.  
  
"Well maybe you only thought she saw you. She could have been stopping at a stoplight or something." Lydia reassured her. She didn't know what Phoebe wanted to hear, but knew that this was probably not it after she received the cold glare from her best friend. "Or maybe not? So why didn't you just take the bus then?"  
  
"I told you… I'm broke. I wanted to take the bus, but I didn't have any money, so thanks to my sisters I had to run to school." Phoebe pouted.  
  
"Well what did you do to make them leave you home?" Lydia asked; she was annoyed that her friend once again seemed to be making a mountain out of a molehill.  
  
"Look if you don't care, maybe we just shouldn't be friends." Phoebe cried.  
  
"Phoebe, I'm sorry… I didn't mean to…"  
  
"Yea? Well you know I'd expect this from Prue but not from someone who's supposed to be my best friend! Why can't you just be nice?" Phoebe interrupted.  
  
"Come on Phoebe… let's not fight… I'm sorry I…"  
  
"I don't even know you anymore! What the heck?" Phoebe shouted. She was so angry with her sisters, and now to be getting a lecture from her best friend too. It was impossible.  
  
"Maybe you're actually right for once Phoebe! Maybe we just shouldn't be friends!" Lydia shouted and stormed off to her next class.  
  
**PRESENT**  
  
Downstairs at the table Piper and Prue silently sat eating dinner. Piper couldn't seem to enjoy the meal with her sisters upset at each other, and Prue couldn't enjoy the meal with the suspicion that Phoebe was up to something.  
  
"Um, so how was school today Piper? Do you think you did well on your math test?"  
  
"Probably, did you get to class on time?"  
  
"Nope…" The attempt at conversation was futile and both sisters knew it, when the phone began to ring they both breathed a sigh of relief and raced to answer; Piper got there first.  
  
"Hi Grams… yes… no, everything's fine here," she lied, "How is your trip going? That's great… um, yea, she's right here…" Piper said handing the phone to Prue. At least someone was having a good time somewhere, Piper thought as she cleared the table. She checked the board and noted it was Phoebe's turn to do the dishes. Sighing, she trudged up the stairs, bringing a plate of food along to her eternally hungry little sister.  
  
"Phoebe? It's me, Piper, can I come in?" she knocked on the door softly. "Pheebs, I know you're upset about what happened this morning and I understand. I brought you some dinner… please can I come in?  
  
There was no response from the other side of the door. Quietly Piper pushed the door open to see Phoebe curled up in her bed, asleep, using her history book as a pillow. Piper set the food down next to her and went downstairs to talk to Prue.  
  
Back downstairs Prue was still on the phone describing to Grams the trials and tribulations of the day. "Grams, I'm just so sick of it! How do you deal with her? It's like she doesn't care about me or Piper… yes, I know… I know but… I love you too Grams… g'night."  
  
"She's sleeping," Piper said, when Prue put the phone down. "I thought maybe you and me could do the dishes this one time… you know, just let her sleep?"  
  
"Fine… whatever… but she better be on-time tomorrow!" Prue replied, grumbling all the way into the kitchen.  
  
The next morning Piper was up bright and early cooking pancakes in the kitchen when Prue stormed in. Piper kept her head down and stirred the batter, preparing herself for the tirade of ranting and raving that would come out of Prue's mouth.  
  
"You told her she didn't have to go to school today?" Prue questioned, when she was finally able to control herself enough to speak. "Piper! What were you thinking?"  
  
"Well she just looked so sweet lying there, and I think she had a really rough night last night so I thought that…"  
  
"No Piper, that's just it… you didn't think. Now she's going to be even more upset with me when I tell her she does have to go to school!" Prue plopped into a chair and held her head in her hands for a moment to try and relieve the impending headache.  
  
Wringing her hands Piper was reluctant to respond, "Prue? I sort of all ready called the school and told them she wasn't coming in."  
  
Prue's eyes shone and Piper thought she could detect a hint of redness over their naturally green color. Unsure whether or not she should continue; Piper flipped the pancakes and again looked down into the pan.  
  
"You what?" Prue finally responded. "Piper how will she ever learn to be a good student… an adult… a productive citizen if she gets out of school that easily? I am the oldest and Grams left me in charge. How could you go around my back like that? You had no right doing that Piper Halliwell!"  
  
"Prue she left us both in charge, and letting her miss one day of school isn't going to screw her up for the rest of her life. Just because you didn't go away to college it doesn't mean that you can take everything out on us!" Piper was shocked at what came out of her mouth. She never thought that she had felt that way about her sister before, and looking back she wish she'd kept her mouth shut. Piper knew Prue had stayed home to help out their Grams and to be there for them as a big sister and role model. "Prue I am so sorry… it's just all this extra stress with the tests at school and… I didn't mean it."  
  
"I know you didn't," Prue said softly as she went over and gave her little sister a warm hug. "Well we might as well eat, don't want to be late again…" 


	2. Chapter 2

Phoebe Halliwell awoke for the second time that morning to the sound of the phone ringing. Rolling over and squinting her eyes at the open door she slumped back under the covers and put her pillow over her head, "Go away!" she shouted at the phone. Finally it stopped ringing and Phoebe reluctantly got up and out of bed, she was hungry. Wandering downstairs she could hear her stomach rumble and she poked her head into the fridge, looking for a snack, and breakfast, lunch and dessert if she started feeling ambitious. As she piled things up on the countertop, Phoebe couldn't help but thinking about how she'd snapped at Lydia. Glancing over at the phone she hesitantly picked it up to dial her number. When Lydia's mother picked up she hung up quickly and looked at her watch, "Shoot, it's only 11..."  
  
Half an hour later the bottomless pit had been nearly filled and Phoebe reluctantly scolded herself and pulled her backpack over to the couch. Dumping it out on the coffee table she struggled to keep all of the loose- leaf papers in a manageable stack. Phoebe knew she had a lot of studying she needed to do to make up for the day of class she'd missed, but she just couldn't concentrate on history when she knew she'd lost her best friend. Phoebe took out her history book and a pad of paper to begin doing the questions at the end of the chapter she was supposed to have read for the day. Tapping her pencil on the pad of paper she flipped back and forth through the book trying to find the answers to the questions, 'When am I ever going to need to know about the Salem Witch Trials?' she asked herself.  
  
As Phoebe continued studying and doing her assignments she didn't even notice how quickly the time flew by on the old grandfather clock. She was shocked when she heard it chime 2. 'Have I really been working on all this for over 2 hours?' she questioned herself, checking the large black watch she wore around her wrist. Putting away her books and papers she realized that she'd finished all of her homework and felt astonishingly prepared for her classes, even for pop-quizzes that may arise in the future. "This is insane!" Phoebe called out to the empty house. Hearing her words echo back to her Phoebe decided to go upstairs and plan out what she would say to Lydia when she finally got through to the girl. As she forced herself to go upstairs she began to feel tired, as though the whole day had already passed. Jotting down a few notes on the notepad she kept in her nightstand Phoebe leaned back on her pillow and closed her eyes for just a second...  
  
"Phoebe, we're home!" Piper called as she dumped her backpack in the front hall of the manor. Checking the message machine she was surprised to hear Phoebes friend Lydia stumbling over her words trying to leave a message. Phoebe always picked up the phone when she was home, the girl had the gift of gab and wasn't afraid to use it at all hours of the day or night. Wondering if perhaps she'd given her sister an excuse to run wild over the city of San Francisco Piper hurried upstairs before Prue had a chance to interrogate Piper over Phoebes whereabouts. "Phoebe, you'd better be in your room or I swear."  
  
Piper stopped short at the sight she saw. Phoebe was lying on her bed, twisted in a pretzel, snoring softly. Not wanting to wake her Piper gently pulled a blanket over her baby sister and closed the door on her way out. Stopping Prue in the hallway and backing her over to the stairs she whispered, "Prue, she's sleeping, maybe we should just let her be."  
  
"Fine, but we're talking about this at supper tonight, and she is not getting out of the dishes this time!" Prue was angry, she demanded respect for herself and Piper from Phoebe and she was going to get it, even if it meant yelling at everyone to get her point across. Frustrated Prue stormed down the stairs and into the kitchen where she tried to get some studying done for her early class the next morning. Phoebe needed to get her act together, simple as that; it wasn't fair to her or Piper that Phoebe was causing tension in the family. Prue tried to shake off the thoughts of responsibility as she read over the pages of Spanish notes from her class; she was expected to be fluent in the language, but at this point she was anything but.  
  
Piper tried to think of a good dish to make for her sisters, it had to be a peaceful dish, and definitely not something that could be thrown. Going through the fridge and kitchen cabinets she finally settled on chicken soup. It had always relaxed her when she was a little kid, and this family needed to be calm for the start of supper, even if it wouldn't be calm at the end. As Piper got out a pot filled with chicken broth that she'd made a couple days earlier, she prayed that everything would be fixed tonight. In a couple days Grams would be home and Piper wouldn't have to feel like she was in charge of the two constant bickering sisters that she loved. Brushing her hair out of her face Piper reached over to sprinkle some kosher salt and pepper into the boiling broth for seasoning. The kitchen was filled with the sweet smell of homemade chicken soup and Piper closed her eyes as she inhaled the comforting aroma. Jumping back from the stove, Piper was startled when the phone began ringing. 


End file.
